Tea and Feathers
by YummyYugi
Summary: When Itachi is having a particularly bad day, he usually turns to dango to make himself feel a tad bit better. This time, he unexpectedly gets bitter tea and the imaginary brush of gentle dove feathers, and is surprised to get nearly the same effect.


Though the rain has never ceased since it began long before the day he arrived, Itachi still has not become accustomed to being constantly damp when in Ame.

He is making his way down the road for his favorite dango stand, but very suddenly hates the way the rain feels on his person.

This frustration was bound to overwhelm him soon. Sleep is difficult to come by, and his head aches daily. His constant discomfort and distrust of those around him have piled until one insignificant thing - the cold, invasive rainwater that pelted him like pebbles and set a chill in his bones - was just too much.

Uncharacteristically, he follows a whim and beelines for the closest business - a tea shop he had never visited before. He's passed it many times, but the way the small building leans weakly to the right, and the fact that the main patrons were skittish civilians, he had continued to pass it without a lick of curiosity as to what lay inside.

A chime sings when he opens the door, and he surveys the tiny establishment. The tinkling sound of the entering bell is the only pleasant thing about this place. There are a handful of lanterns to give decent lighting, but what they give light to is a dank sitting room. Various chairs have been taped as a repair, and the decorations look half assed and far too old to still be hanging. Water falls from the sealing into random dishes laid onto the floor and a few tables. The air itself smells aged and stale.

Despite it all, Itachi is grateful to be out of the cold rain. There is only one other visitor that enjoys his chipped cup of tea in welcomed solace, and Itachi is more comfortable to know that he is mostly alone, himself.

He searches for his own seat, and chooses the one with no lantern near it - ending up in the closest seat to the kitchens. He avoids knocking over leak pots on the floor, and falls into a creaky chair carefully for fear it would snap under his weight. The urge to remove the wet cloak is strong, but his need for stillness is stronger as the pressure builds behind his eyes, so he lets the material cling to his skin despite how annoying the feeling is, and waits patiently for service.

It doesn't take very long. A girl that can't be older than seventeen enters the dining room, and tucks her dark chocolate strands behind her ear. She spots her new guest immediately, and glides to his table.

When she stops at his side, the ends of her pin straight hair swish at the top of her thighs, and her sweetly rounded cheeks swell in a welcoming smile. "Hello, what can I get for you?"

Itachi squints through the pain in his head, and thinks of what tea would work best to soothe the ache.

"Feverfew tea helps me best when I'm in pain," the girl says softly, her voice too gentle to bother his sensitive ears. He appreciates her considerate actions, but really detests her suggestion.

He hates feverfew tea. It does exactly what she claims, but it's one of the most bitter teas he has ever had the misfortune to drink. But his head is pounding. He hesitates, and the waitress sees it.

"I'll bring you the entire jar of honey," she giggles lightly with knowing eyes, and Itachi nods in acquiescence, only slightly curious as to how she guessed correctly about his sweet tooth.

She floats away and Itachi closes his eyes to rest them as he waits for his pain relieving tea. Time moves slowly, and he meditates to pass it - registering sounds in the kitchen, the steady dripping from the leaking ceiling, and the sound of the only other customer finishing his tea and taking his leave. He senses when the girl approaches again, but only opens his eyes once he hears the clinking of dishes on his table. The light attacks his sensitive pupils, causing his eyelids flutter in response.

"Thank you," he manages to say.

The girl bows, her hair slipping over her back and shoulders elegantly. "Of course."

She leaves him then, and he immediately pours in an ungodly amount of honey into his cup of freshly brewed tea, and he doesn't give a single fuck if anyone sees it. He's in too much pain to care.

As he's stirring, a lantern goes out. He glances over his shoulder to see the the slender waitress dimming another, and another until there are only two barely lighting the room. He tenses at the strangeness, the wary shinobi wondering if she's trying to take away his sight.

"I'll light them again when the tea kicks in," she murmurs, and he is stunned when he realizes she is trying to make it more comfortable on his eyes.

She smiled that gentle smile again, and retreats to the kitchens once more. Itachi revels a few moments in the rare position of receiving kindness, before taking measured sips of his foul tasting pain reliever.

He is grateful when no other patrons enter the shop, and he is left to sit in relative peace until, eventually, the tea's properties work their magic, and his pain fades to the background.

As if she's been lying in wait, the graceful hostess returns with attentive chocolate eyes that search his face openly. "Better?"

"Yes," he answers simply.

Her smile is satisfied, and endearing, "Would you like anything else? We have healthy snacks, and sweets to compliment any tea we carry."

Itachi is mildly surprised at the amount of items they carry in this rundown building, as well as the attentiveness of the waitress. He expected none of those things when looking from the outside at the worn, soggy foundations and buckling walls, or even the inside and its sorry state.

He chooses to inquire about the sweets.

"We have many. Daifuku, senbei, dango-"

"Dango will be fine," the Uchiha says nonchalantly.

She grins, not fooled, and Itachi finds the way her dark eyes curve above her cheeks to be artistic. He blinks at the thought, surprised something like that passed his mind. It's true though, her simplicity makes her a classic beauty - he can see that now with eyes less clouded by pain. The girl - her nametag reads Yohane - lives up to her namesake. Like a feather, she is gentle and soft. The way she breezes back to the kitchens is graceful, and Itachi watches with well hidden interest.

But however lovely she is to look at, there isn't a point in showing it. His every move is shrouded in shadow and leaves behind the blackened aura of the crow in his wake - an omen. With a single interaction, he sees her kindness, sees the safe haven she is, and he craves it, that greatly desired taste of peace. But he wouldn't dare taint her innocent existence with his bloodstained touch. His life - his torturous, painful life - has no room for sweet distractions like her. He knows that, has always known that about any attractive woman that passed his sight these last few years, which is why he is so surprised to find a heavy disappointment settle in his chest when he denies himself the chance to forget with the girl who's eyes are like chocolate.

When Yohane comes back with a plate of dango, she is confused. Not by the empty seat where the pale, dark haired stranger sat a few minutes prior, but at the strange ache in her chest that he didn't even bid her goodbye.


End file.
